Last week, 25 Baldwin students returned to the annual four day Ivy League Model United Nations Conference (ILMUNC) in Philadelphia with strict COVID precautions in place.

Students this year were required to take various measures to ensure a COVID-free environment during and after the conference. These requirements included: being fully vaccinated and boosted, showing proof of a negative PCR or rapid COVID test from 5 days prior to conference, and testing Monday morning (post-conference) before returning to school. 

Dr. Biss, the faculty head of Baldwin’s Model UN team, said: “I think the safety protocols are reasonable and they did a good job putting them in place. I felt pretty comfortable attending.” 

Overall, students were excited to get back to the conference in-person after a year off. 

Arden Davey ‘23 said, “Even though we were all masked and had to be cautious, it was still great to be back in the conference room and in-person with the delegates.” 

  The COVID precautions proved successful, as there were no positive cases on the Monday morning post conference.

As suggested by the title, ILMUNC attempts to replicate the United Nations for high school students. Each high school is assigned a country, and students attend various committee meetings where they discuss and debate global conflicts. The end goal is to collaborate with countries facing similar issues and develop a solution for the conflict.

Baldwin received a variety of country assignments this year, including: Iran, Spain, Malaisia, Philippines, Morocco, Chad, Canada, Tanzania, and Burkina Faso. 

Prior to the conference, students research their given topic and write a position paper about their country’s stance pertaining to that topic. One or two students represent a given country in a specialized committee, which ranges in size from six to 200 students. Students attending the University of Pennsylvania coordinate ILMUNC and serve as the chairs of each committee moderating the debates.

ILMUNC provides students the opportunity to make speeches, negotiate, and debate all of which help to build oral and interpersonal skills. 

“Not only have I been able to meet people from all over the country, but the conference has seriously enhanced my public speaking skills,” said Grace Harvey ‘25.